


I heard you're going 'round, playing the victim now

by AbbySomething



Series: Maybe This Will Be My Year [2]
Category: Samurai Jack (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Jack makes good on his promises, Obligatory training montage episode/chapter, but does aku??, the world may never know......
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-29 16:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7691017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AbbySomething/pseuds/AbbySomething
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Promises that were made are kept…in part.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I heard you're going 'round, playing the victim now

As they reached a clearing of dry brush, Jack stopped still in the center and turned to face Aku, who also paused.

“Let us break here,” Jack said plainly.

Aku quirked a brow, but dropped his pack and stretched his arms towards the sky, flexing his back. Before he sat, Jack cleared his throat.

“Aku,” he began, fighting the strange swell of emotions at the thought of now speaking that name casually, “You attack decently, enough to surpass the average foe, but you do not defend yourself. Your years of immortality have made this a flaw in your fighting style, and if you wish to fend for yourself properly it must be corrected.”

“Feh! I am more than capable of ‘defending myself’ samurai! Do you not recall the time I fought you in my human form? Spare me your speeches and pointless teachings.”

Aku huffed, turning away from Jack. The other man narrowed his eyes into slits, body tensing.

“Your pride will cost you,” Jack noted, an edge of steel in his voice, “You should have learned that lesson by now, after all your encounters with me.”

“What is _that_ supposed to mean?!” Aku snarled, fixing Jack with a vehement glare.

“You have never succeeded in capturing or killing me,” Jack let out a small edge of a smirk.

Aku was quick to spit back: “Perhaps you should look at your own track record as well, samurai _fool_.”

That got Jack’s face to drop into a frown, but he stopped the anger from rising further, as he knew that wasn’t where he wanted to go today. They had made a deal, and Jack had every intention of keeping his end of it, and he would try to ensure that Aku kept his part as well.

What Aku said still burned, but he refused to let it get to him.

“Going _back_ to my point, I did promise to teach you to learn to fend for yourself.” Jack nodded to the sealed wound on Aku’s arm under the slash in the coat, “Since that is doing much better, I think now is as good a time as any to start. If you do not learn how to fight properly, then I guarantee you will die very easily.”

It seemed to quiet the ex-demon, though Jack could see the temper still simmering in his gaze.

Aku didn’t want to admit it, but he knew the samurai had a point. And, as he had concluded a while ago, it always helped to know how your enemy fought and all their various secrets, in order to gain the upper hand on them later.

A long few moments of silence passed, but finally Aku sighed like it pained him, and stepped up to face Jack directly, crossing his arms.

“Very well,” he said with exasperation, “Go on, then.”

“Your first step, at least for this moment, is to forget everything you have learned about fighting.”

Before Aku could protest, Jack continued, “You _were_ immune to mortal weapons and ailments, but not any longer, Aku. You must come to terms with that, even if you were to change back next week. If you wish to survive, you must put forth every effort into that desire now.”

Aku shifted, clearly uncomfortable with the thought, but kept his attention on Jack.

“The point of entering a fight is trying to end it as soon as possible, and to either get away or incapacitate your opponent. Preferably both, but that is not always the case.”

Jack gave Aku a wary glance, “I know you already understand when to run, and when you’re given enough time, you plan out strategies…effectively.”

Aku smirked, more than happy to soak up a compliment from his most hated foe. The wonders it did to his ego! Already he felt better than he had in weeks.

“We shall do only one lesson today: keeping a fight in your favor and as short as possible, and thus creating your opening to get away. You will need to start working on your creativity in a fight, and some level of being able to think on your feet. You will not have the time anymore to plot like you once did, so quick-thinking is key now.”

Jack took a few steps back, and widened his feet. He made his forward most hand into a fist, while the other remained open.

“Ready,” Jack warned, and Aku sprang into a similar pose, though both his hands were up and tightened into fists. Jack also noted his stance was not steady; he could easily be toppled. Something to work on later.

With that, Jack came forward quickly, using the hand already in a fist to jab at Aku. Aku, surprisingly, caught it, and then tried to swing his back fist into Jack’s face. Jack smoothly brought his other hand in and swept the fist to the side, but that gave Aku opportunity to slam his knee into Jack’s chest.

It didn’t have all of the power it could have; Aku’s balance was already starting to sway; but it did take Jack for a spin. It would be the last time he would go easy on the man, then.

Jack twisted his left hand out of Aku’s grip as the other brought his foot down, locking all his fingers close, curling them but leaving the palms open. He struck Aku on either side of his ribcage, but not into the solar plexus, and without the proper balance his move had the desired effect: Aku flailed wildly, cursing and falling backwards.

Jack withdrew, holding back the smile that wished to come forth. It was far too prideful for him.

“What could you have done differently?” Jack asked immediately, stepping back to give Aku room to stand again.

“I could have kicked you in the groin,” Aku commented dryly, and Jack frowned.

“ _Besides_ that.”

“What, then?” Aku pursed his lips in irritation.

Jack got back into his first stance, and Aku followed, although a bit more hesitantly.

“We shall go slower. I will explain some things you can try instead, to end the fight faster and to bring your opponent down.”

Aku’s face hardened, and Jack took that to thrust his left hand towards Aku again. Once more, he caught it, but Jack motioned for him to stop before Aku brought his back fist up again.

Aku quirked a brow, but Jack pointed to their connection.

“What can you do with this?” Jack hinted to Aku.

Aku observed their hands, and then twisted his hand to rotate Jack’s arm. Not with his full force; Aku still looked to Jack to confirm the answer. Jack nodded, and then broke the grip.

“One of the quickest ways, actually, is to use your opponent’s momentum against them,” Jack clarified, “It can get tricky if they are well-trained, but I have discovered most do not expect this tactic regardless. Try grabbing the fist, and then pulling me towards you for a strike.”

They repeated the trial once more, and Aku followed through, but before his fist made contact Jack stopped it at the wrist.

“Good,” Jack commented, without thinking too much about how obvious it was that Aku wished to punch him, “Do you understand where I am taking this?”

“Yes. The notion of physics is not lost on me, samurai. I simply…” Aku glanced away, “I have not utilized it in this method until now.”

“Something to work on, then,” Jack noted, “Faster, now.”

They did this a dozen more times, until Aku could match Jack’s pace more easily, and even nearly threw him towards the end as their momentum increased. Aku even managed to pull his own punches, and Jack allowed him to figure out his own preferences on what to follow the move up with. He still couldn’t hammer his knee up without losing balance, but again, Jack would work on that later with him.

Finally, breathing a bit harder, Jack pulled back and switched sides, his position a mirror to his previous one.

“Switch and try again.”

Aku cocked his head, breathing through a mouth slightly ajar, but after a moment’s pause and some consideration, he followed suit.

Jack gave him another second before he jabbed his right fist towards him, and Aku instinctually tried to bring up his right hand to grab it, but it was too far, and Jack nearly hit him before he pulled back.

“Wait, wait,” Aku glanced down, and Jack noticed he seemed to be taking stock of himself, becoming aware of how he stood and the strange sensation of reversing his view and using his other side. Jack had grown used to being equally good in both right and left-handed combat, but he could still recall the first few trials, and the dizzying effect they’d had on his perspective and thinking. It would take getting used to.

Aku pulled out of himself, and then seemed to be ready again. Jack did the same, trying once more, going just a bit slower. Aku reacted much faster, and even rotated his body properly to bring his right fist towards Jack’s chest. He still stopped before making contact, and then pulled back in sync with Jack.

Ten more times, and Jack let them both break for a short rest.

As much as Jack was loathe to admit it, Aku was a fast learner. He had always known the demon was intelligent, and to a degree Aku was more than a physical shapeshifter— he was adaptive, too. Not quite as much as Jack in the heat of battle, as Aku had always relied upon his own strength and powers (or his manipulation of others), and he had tended to allow his own ego or eagerness to get in the way of his plots. A trait which Jack was more than grateful for, if he were to be honest.

Jack certainly wouldn’t teach him everything; that would be tempting Fate far too much for when or if Aku turned back. But he would hold true to his promise, as long as Aku managed to hold his.

“Kicks are harder hitting, but easier to dodge, parry, or manipulate. When an opponent is off balance, they are easier to throw down.”

Aku huffed indignantly as they both back into their stances, but still remained strangely quiet. This time Jack leaned back on his left leg and slowly kicked out at Aku. Aku caught his ankle, but then paused for too long, clearly considering his options. Jack yanked his foot out of Aku’s grasp and then thrust it forward a little faster, booting Aku in the chest lightly with his heel. Aku snarled, swatting at him before Jack brought his foot down.

“In a real fight, you will not have time to think too hard about what you want to do. You simply have to _do_ something.” Jack explained.

“I _know_ that, samurai!” Aku snapped, “I, I was simply…”

Aku cut himself off and wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Jack rolled his shoulders, easing out some of the tension that had gathered there, before he took up the challenge again. This time when Aku caught his foot, he forced it over his head, and Jack allowed himself to fall, brought forward by his lack of action to prevent it, like most inexperienced fighters would likely do.

That brought forth the hint of a cruel smile to Aku’s face, but Jack was quick to recover, and they went through another dozen trials of this before it became apparent Aku was getting the hang of it.

At the last one, Jack hopped forward on the one foot, not falling, and stood like that, his repositioning not allowing Aku to topple him as he had before. Aku, looking thoroughly unimpressed with Jack’s splits, shoved forward, successfully knocking Jack back down.

“Show-off!” Aku said accusingly. Jack wiped the dust off, even if he would continue to get dirty, ignoring Aku’s comment.

“You clearly grasp this concept, so we will do one more trail of something new before I run you through some exercise drills.”

Aku’s shoulders sagged, but the fire in his eyes did not fade in the slightest.

Jack considered it for a moment, and then locked eyes with Aku.

“I will come at you, and you will grab me and try to throw me to the ground. Use my momentum against me. Since this is a first run, I will not grab you as well, but be aware that some opponents will know to do this, in case we encounter any before I get the chance to go over it with you.”

Aku’s frown deepened, uneasy at the idea of the samurai acknowledging that he was not teaching Aku all that he should likely know, but he was also not looking forward to whatever “drills” the samurai would have him do afterwards.

But instead, he went with the samurai’s instructions, and lowered his body to stabilize himself better. Jack stood back a few paces, and then tensed.

Even with the talk just before, seeing the samurai rushing him threw Aku for a short loop, and he fumbled when Jack plowed into him, both nearly toppling over before Jack recomposed and jerked away. Aku let out an angry breath, but shook himself off.

“That was…merely a fluke,” Aku brushed the front of his shirt off, “ _Now_ we will begin.”

Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

This time, Aku focused his emotions, and actually managed to grab the front of Jack’s gi. In his next movement, he tried to throw Jack to the side.

Keyword: tried.

Jack was actually far heavier than he recalled, and at the first attempt all that happened was him tugging at the fabric. When they tried again, Aku gave so much effort into it he also hurled himself to the ground.

But after another few trials, Aku realized the key point of achieving this was _before_ Jack reached him, and to be fast about it from there, indeed using the forward movement of the samurai against him. After that epiphany, he actually managed to throw the samurai off to the side a bit, although he forgot to let go and wound up dragging himself again.

In subsequent times, he had much greater success, and within a short while Aku had completed ten successful tries in a row.

Jack almost felt a flare of pride before he remembered who he was working with, and quickly smothered it. He allowed them another few minutes rest, before rounding on Aku once more.

“And now, we train in another aspect. If you want to get better at fighting, you must also strengthen your body.” Jack stepped further away from Aku, but kept parallel to him, “Especially if you wish to make throwing your opponent around easier.”

Aku slitted his eyes into an angry glare.

“We shall alternate exercises from day to day, but we shall start off easy for the next few weeks,” Jack continued, putting his feet further apart and nodding for Aku to follow him, “Now, here is what you do…”

They went through three rounds of ten sets of each: squats, pushups, lunges, and sit-ups. Jack had to correct his form a few times, but otherwise they ran along smoothly. The pace Jack was keeping was one of a maniac, Aku was sure, because by the end of the first round he was covered in sweat and gasping for breath. But the samurai only allowed a thirty second pause before starting again, and stupidly Aku followed along, although he did voice his aversion.

But thankfully, this also meant the whole affair passed quickly, and Aku collapsed afterwards, grateful it was over. His whole body screamed in agony, and he didn’t care that he was face-down in the cold, dead grass. The cold actually felt nice now that his whole body felt like it was burning.

Like _hell_ that had been “easy.” Aku hoped to be able to successfully punch Jack in the face during their next training session.

Jack cocked his head, only needing to take a few breaths to calm down, and considered what else he could add on to make Aku more…well-trained. Making him miserable was only a bonus.

“I think you will also be joining my morning katas and evening meditations,” Jack said, “They are a fantastic way to wake up and wind down.”

“You mean…that ridiculous…fighting…dance?” Aku rolled his face to the side, asking between panting, “Baaaah!…we…shall see…samurai…”

Jack felt a rising sense of accomplishment for the day, and he let slip a small smile.

* * *

 

Aku awoke earlier than Jack, as usual: a habit he had gained during his time as a demon, even if he hadn’t needed sleep as much as a human would. And besides, the samurai tended to sleep until the sun was over the horizon, no matter what part of the globe he was on. Unless there was a threat nearby, of course.

Apparently Aku was no longer in that category.

He strode over in the direction of trickling water he had heard yesterday, his muscles still sore and protesting every movement, but thankfully the stream was only a short distance away. It was barely a foot across and an inch deep, but it was flowing, clear water anyway.

He stripped down and splashed off the sweat and grime his awful mortal frame had accumulated yesterday, and shuddered at the cold and the feel of his own flesh. He even had to put the same clothes back on— how in the hell did the samurai live like this?

He would need to wash the clothes at some point, of course, but not while the fool had a remote chance of bursting in on him. Not that Aku had a problem with the nudity aspect; it was more a matter of principle.

His stomach also joined in on the angry protesting, and he let out a ragged sigh. Another aspect he had only just started getting adjusted to.

He sat there for a long few minutes, his head too full of racing thoughts that he could not grasp. He couldn’t think too long or hard about all the new physical and emotional sensations, as that was the pathway to madness. For the time being, he had to simply keep moving on, and— how had the samurai put it?

‘ _If you wish to survive, you must put forth every effort into that desire now_.’

He swallowed, though his throat felt like it was full of a syrupy substance, and held those warning words close to the front of his mind. He would never admit it, but the samurai was right.

He also could not deny another large motivational factor, one that had lingered in both his demonic form and now seemed to reemerge in his mortal one: curiosity. He _wanted_ to know, and to learn, even if his pride had to take priority sometimes…or more than often. The trait had become subdued over his many years as ruler, as he had grown comfortable with the idea that he held all the knowledge he would ever need. But now it just so happened that the new information he was receiving was also vital to his continued existence…and his hopes of being returned to his true form.

He looked around, and after not seeing anyone or the fool around, he stood and stretched his spine, leaning back just a bit to work out more soreness. He shook out his legs and arms, rotating them in their joints, and then stepped back a bit from the stream, taking up the same position he and the fool had been mainly working in last night.

It took some time, but finally he started to feel like there was a rhythm to his efforts, and things were falling into place, even if it was not quite the same without a fellow practitioner.

If Jack witnessed him practicing before he called Aku over to start the new routine of katas, the samurai did not mention it.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank u How to Fight Write, as I am only a smol abby who had no idea how to fight…right….yea  
> I hope I did u justice and wrote well ;-;  
> (Or as best I can in this universe where everything happens due to Rule of Cool)
> 
>    
> Thank youuuuu to my splendorous betas, [Cobalt the Fox](https://cobalt-draws.tumblr.com/) and [Ka Won!!](http://iwalkandtalk.tumblr.com/)


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